Women's Soccer Comes Up Short Against Furman

UNC Asheville fell to Furman yesterday, 2-1, in a match at rain-soaked Greenwood Field. The Paladins caught the Bulldogs off guard early, jumping out to a 1-0 lead only 43 seconds into the match when Furman midfielder Lucy Martin scored off of the game’s first corner kick. Furman continued their attack in the 6th minute, when Martha Hall recorded her 7th goal of the season. Asheville goalkeeper Megan Dent made a nice save on a shot by Hall, but the ball rebounded straight back to the Furman striker, who finished off the play. Staring a blowout in the face, the Bulldogs rallied back to shut out the Paladins rest of the way. In the 10th minute, Katy Beeler found a wide open Chloe McCleary-Small, who nailed a shot from 10 yards out to bring Asheville within a goal. Unfortunately, quality scoring opportunities were few and far between, and the Bulldogs were unable to come up with the equalizer. Furman controlled the ball for much of the match, with 16 shots to Asheville’s 7, and an 11-4 advantage in corners. The Bulldogs made a few solid pushes in the second half behind McCleary-Small and senior Meagan Bradham, but were unable to slip a shot past Furman keeper Jessica Smith.

The Bulldogs had a number of factors working against them in the match. Playing shortly after a two hour downpour, players had to contend with a wet, muddy field which made connecting passes a real struggle. Asheville was also without its offensive leader, senior McKenna Stockhausen, who sat the match out with an injury. In spite of these factors, the Bulldogs played with tenacity on defense to hold the potent Furman offense scoreless for the final 84 minutes of the match. Also encouraging was the play of McCleary-Small. The freshman is now Asheville’s leading goal scorer, and managed to create two more good scoring opportunities in the second half. Her development as a scoring threat should dramatically improve the Bulldogs’ attack (Asheville has only 3 goals through 4 games). UNC Asheville will be back in action on Sunday when they take on Tennessee Tech (1-4) at Greenwood Field. Kickoff is at 2pm. The Bulldogs have defeated Tennessee Tech in three of the last four seasons, including a 2-1 victory last year in Cookeville.